Chris Hughton

[Bainsey]

Maybe we're waiting for the new season to have literally almost started before appointing the new manager and hoping for the instant impact of a 'new manager bounce'. All I can think of anyway...! Come on City, who's it gonna be? I'm starting to tire of waiting now.

[BCFC Grim]

12 minutes ago, GrahamC said:

Me too.

Also the playoff final season we finished 4th, our highest placing since 1980.

No matter how great the season under Cotts was, it was at one level below this.

GJ is still our best manager since Dicks for me.

Couldn't agree more. The whole place felt different back then ( well it was with the stadium upgrade I guess) I enjoyed the season under GJ more than I did under SC even though we romped it. Could be an age thing I guess. 

[BCFC1512]

Ryan Giggs 

Just trying to think who would of applied to shock MA

[pongo88]

1 hour ago, Rossi the Robin said:

McGG saying 5-8 interviews CH is the only definite one he can name 

The number of people being interviewed changes by the day. If it’s true that 8 are being interviewed it’s ridiculous as there can’t be 8 managers who meet City’s criteria and who want the job. As for naming Hughton, that’s hardly the journalistic scoop of the year. 

1 hour ago, Rossi the Robin said:

Also saying Karl Robinson and Mike Flynn not on interview list 

1 hour ago, lou2BS7 said:

 

Naming people are are not going to be interviewed is easy as I could name quite a few. He’s also said Neil Warnock won’t get the job which, considering SL has previously said he’d never be employed at City, is hardly a surprise. I’m not having a go at G McG as he does a good job under the circumstances. The reality is the Post has got to sell papers and advertising so he’s got to say something when there is nothing to say 

[Mendip City]

1 minute ago, BCFC Grim said:

Couldn't agree more. The whole place felt different back then ( well it was with the stadium upgrade I guess) I enjoyed the season under GJ more than I did under SC even though we romped it. Could be an age thing I guess. 

Personally I preferred the SC season but GJ certainly ran it very close. 
The striking thing for me is the similarity between GJ and LJ tenure. If you swap the play-off final with the league cup semi-final.... what changed with both of them, it went from entertaining positive football to confused dour football until their demise. Weird. 

[MarcusX]

20 minutes ago, IAmNick said:

I completely agree. In the double season we just blew everyone away and I expected to be winning comfortably pretty much every game.

Gary's time wasn't great football, but Ashton Gate was so full of energy and excitement I definitely enjoyed it more. It was reflected on the pitch in the way we played and even if we were 0 - 1 down with 10 minutes left everyone always expected us to somehow snatch a late goal, or even a winner. Even though it was so long ago I have some great memories - Dele Adebola coming on in the pissing rain when we were 0 - 2 down against Wolves and running them ragged, Brooker coming on as a late sub and getting a last minute winner against Norwich. If we were behind we'd throw everything at them and it seemed to come off (often against the run of play). Gary pumping his fist in front of us. It was a great time.

I almost feel like I need to "train" myself to enjoy football at AG again after the last few years - even at the pub we've barely chatted about it for a season or two now, beyond a confused glance at the team sheet before the match.

Agreed, I went to Wembley and expected to win in that double season, we never do that!

Also remember a Jamie McCombe last minute equaliser against Palace just after we'd missed a penalty and then his Overhead kick to send us top against Hull a couple of games later. Some fantastic memories and we really did fight til the end of every game.

There was also a bit of a "habit" where if we conceded at home the whole ground would roar with a Cmon you Reds or similar as we kicked off again. We'd concede and immediately drown out the away fans celebrations, that must have been huge for the players on the pitch

[Monkeh]

25 minutes ago, Nogbad the Bad said:

Age, and experience - witnessing failure after failure - brings with it an acceptance of reality.

Why support a football club, 62 out of 72 teams fail every season and in the top flight 19 out of 20 clubs fail every season

[Port Said Red]

6 minutes ago, pongo88 said:

The number of people being interviewed changes by the day. If it’s true that 8 are being interviewed it’s ridiculous as there can’t be 8 managers who meet City’s criteria and who want the job. As for naming Hughton, that’s hardly the journalistic scoop of the year. 

Naming people are are not going to be interviewed is easy as I could name quite a few. He’s also said Neil Warnock won’t get the job which, considering SL has previously said he’d never be employed at City, is hardly a surprise. I’m not having a go at G McG as he does a good job under the circumstances. The reality is the Post has got to sell papers and advertising so he’s got to say something when there is nothing to say 

Not necessarily true. They maybe taking the opportunity to do some "talent banking", interviewing people who may not be ready now but might be an interesting option in future and seeing how they sell themselves. Considering certain people on here seem to think the club were completely unprepared for this appointment, that might be welcomed by them.

[MarcusX]

5 minutes ago, Mendip City said:

Personally I preferred the SC season but GJ certainly ran it very close. 
The striking thing for me is the similarity between GJ and LJ tenure. If you swap the play-off final with the league cup semi-final.... what changed with both of them, it went from entertaining positive football to confused dour football until their demise. Weird. 

Momentum.

We road a huge wave on the back from League 1 promotion all the way to the Play Off final.

Same off the back of the league cup run, we were flying, but clearly the losses to Man City (which must have took a huge physical toll and emotional) and the capitulations from winning positions destroyed confidence and we never really got it back. Everything changed from the players to the fans, the atmosphere in the ground turn into a cauldron of nerves. You could feel it in the stadium, which must have been picked up by the players. Not blaming the fans, but its a vicious cycle then.

[Monkeh]

2 minutes ago, MarcusX said:

Momentum.

We road a huge wave on the back from League 1 promotion all the way to the Play Off final.

Same off the back of the league cup run, we were flying, but clearly the losses to Man City (which must have took a huge physical toll and emotional) and the capitulations from winning positions destroyed confidence and we never really got it back. Everything changed from the players to the fans, the atmosphere in the ground turn into a cauldron of nerves. You could feel it in the stadium, which must have been picked up by the players. Not blaming the fans, but its a vicious cycle then.

thats some good points but it falls down when the restart happened,

There were no fans in the ground so there was no cauldron of nerves effecting players,

That's where it finally hit the "suits" that the problem was the head coach and his inability to pick a consistent side and sending his best young players who could of injected much needed energy and effort out on loan,

[Nogbad the Bad]

20 minutes ago, BRISTOL86 said:

Except that's not how football works. By that logic I've never seen us get promoted to the top flight, so we'll never get promoted to the top flight. 

Maybe not, but instead of aiming to sneak in to the play offs playing tedious enthusiasm sapping football - and therefore very unlikely to be an outstanding team that prevails in the play offs - perhaps the aim should be to rally the fans by playing more entertaining football and see if doing that can take us up automatically.

We might fail either way, but at least one way would be glorious failure, and enjoyable - the one caveat of course is we build a team reliable enough to give confidence throughout the club we we won't go down.

Btw, away from home do what the hell you like to stack up the points, at AG though we are entitled to some entertainment.

[Galley is our king]

Well I agree with everything said about GJ's time as manager.

Great times, enjoyable football.

My only reason for posting is can someone please let me know when they see @Robboredwife? 

Bit worried about her, the poor fella must be pulling his hair out reading this

[samo II]

46 days till September 12th...

[Nogbad the Bad]

15 minutes ago, Monkeh said:

Why support a football club, teams 62 out of 72 teams fail every season and in the top flight 19 put of 20 clubs fail every season

You forget the basics.

The professional football club, Bristol City F.C., only exists to represent the wider local community and provide an entertainment venue for them to gather and enjoy watching them.

If they're not worth watching the division the club is in will not matter in the end.

 

[BRISTOL86]

8 minutes ago, Nogbad the Bad said:

Maybe not, but instead of aiming to sneak in to the play offs playing tedious enthusiasm sapping football - and therefore very unlikely to be an outstanding team that prevails in the play offs - perhaps the aim should be to rally the fans by playing more entertaining football and see if doing that can take us up automatically.

We might fail either way, but at least one way would be glorious failure, and enjoyable - the one caveat of course is we build a team reliable enough to give confidence throughout the club we we won't go down.

Btw, away from home do what the hell you like to stack up the points, at AG though we are entitled to some entertainment.

Couldn't agree more. But I think automatic promotion for any team that doesn't have parachute payments is incredibly difficult. Top six shouldn't be seen as disappointing, we are a million miles away from title contenders in terms of resources and quality.

Statistically every team in the playoffs is likely to fail in them, so pretty much every team's fans will share your 'we won't win them anyway' view. But someone has to. 

This year Brentford should win them, they play the best football by a mile of any of the contenders, yet here's football doing it's thing.... 

By the time the playoffs come around, anyone who has managed - over 46 games - to get in them, has a serious chance.

3 minutes ago, Nogbad the Bad said:

You forget the basics.

The professional football club, Bristol City F.C., only exists to represent the wider local community and provide an entertainment venue for them to gather and enjoy watching them.

If they're not worth watching the division the club is in will not matter in the end.

 

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but it definitely doesn't.

[Guest]

43 minutes ago, BRISTOL86 said:

Except that's not how football works. By that logic I've never seen us get promoted to the top flight, so we'll never get promoted to the top flight. 

And Leicester will never win the Premier League

etc etc.

Looks like NtB needs a bit of 'Illegitimi non carborundum' therapy.

Hopefully through BCFC pulling its finger out by finding a good manager and CV19 doing one.

Our season will come... just make it bloody quick.

[Red Army 75]

Some decent discussion and posts this morning. What a difference from yesterday evening 

[Nogbad the Bad]

55 minutes ago, Banjo Island said:

Most games our gang awoke from our comas with 20 mins left of the match pegging it out of the ground at a furious pace back to the car

Sorry to say Banjo my erstwhile furious pace approaching AG had slackened to a snail's pace this season, and one that half expected to find some sluggit waiting for me when I took my seat for the game.  

 

[Red Exile]

48 minutes ago, Port Said Red said:

Not necessarily true. They maybe taking the opportunity to do some "talent banking", interviewing people who may not be ready now but might be an interesting option in future and seeing how they sell themselves. Considering certain people on here seem to think the club were completely unprepared for this appointment, that might be welcomed by them.

Talent banking for the future does indeed seem a good strategy...but begs the question why something similar hadn't been done in the past to assist a smooth handover when a manager left. On the face of it we don't really seem to have been prepared. I'm afraid that the club is beginning to look a bit ridiculous in the eyes of some, myself included.

[Monkeh]

Just now, Red Exile said:

Talent banking for the future does indeed seem a good strategy...but begs the question why something similar hadn't been done in the past to assist a smooth handover when a manager left. On the face of it we don't really seem to have been prepared. I'm afraid that the club is beginning to look a bit ridiculous in the eye of some, myself included.

It may of, but that talent may all be in jobs, 4 and a half years is a long time

[Nogbad the Bad]

9 minutes ago, BRISTOL86 said:

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but it definitely doesn't.

Looks like you've forgotten the basics too - sad to see!

Professional football is about entertaining the masses, success on top of that is a bonus.

[downendcity]

49 minutes ago, Taunton_BCFC said:

Just trying to think who would of applied to shock MA

Mrs Ashton?

[Red Exile]

1 minute ago, Monkeh said:

It may of, but that talent may all be in jobs, 4 and a half years is a long time

...and that was about 2 years too long! 

Professional footballers are all in jobs when Ashton's team is assessing them. I'm surprised they haven't already got their man...but hey, maybe they have and some other factors are in play. Whatever the reality this drawn-out process, with radio silence from the club, allows people to speculate and develop a narrative which says 'they don't know what they are doing'. If I was Mark Ashton I wouldn't want that to be said of a club I ran - not least by its own supporters/customers. I'd be managing expectations.

[Port Said Red]

9 minutes ago, Red Exile said:

Talent banking for the future does indeed seem a good strategy...but begs the question why something similar hadn't been done in the past to assist a smooth handover when a manager left. On the face of it we don't really seem to have been prepared. I'm afraid that the club is beginning to look a bit ridiculous in the eye of some, myself included.

 

8 minutes ago, Monkeh said:

It may of, but that talent may all be in jobs, 4 and a half years is a long time

Monkeh, beat me to it, we may have identified several candidates who have moved on to bigger and better things or have contracts that make it difficult for us. I guess the question then would be, "why don't we keep updating the list?", but if you were the Manager and it got back to you that they are interviewing people for your job, "just in case", it hardly sets a good working environment.

[Red Exile]

3 minutes ago, Port Said Red said:

 

Monkeh, beat me to it, we may have identified several candidates who have moved on to bigger and better things or have contracts that make it difficult for us. I guess the question then would be, "why don't we keep updating the list?", but if you were the Manager and it got back to you that they are interviewing people for your job, "just in case", it hardly sets a good working environment.

I guess lots of us of a certain age on here have managed people and teams. The most interesting job I had involved managing a bunch of very talented creative people, most of whom were passing through. They were usually on their way up. It was my job to spot talent, develop it and when people left for better things recruit successors on the basis that if you did a good job you'd go places. Some people hung around, but not that many. My role was to be constantly on the look out for new people, or to employ people who did that for me...talent spotting. I think that's what I'd be expecting to be happening with the City managers job, and for it to be a dynamic process.

Now, that often leaves you introducing people who you reckon will be great but no one else on the team has heard of and might be suspicious of. In order to make that process work you, as the boss, have to build trust in your judgement. I think that's the bit Mark Ashton has missed out here. Supporters - some supporters - don't trust him, or, when it comes to hiring managers, the owners.

[BRISTOL86]

25 minutes ago, Nogbad the Bad said:

Looks like you've forgotten the basics too - sad to see!

Professional football is about entertaining the masses, success on top of that is a bonus.

Haven't forgotten anything - but if you think the raison d'être of a modern football club is providing entertainment to the fans, then sadly, you're mistaken. 

Football is a commercial enterprise, and to cling on to the past and idealise it as anything but in this day and age is deluded.

I don't like it, but it doesn't make it any less true.

[italian dave]

32 minutes ago, Nogbad the Bad said:

 

If they're not worth watching the division the club is in will not matter in the end.

 

Mmmmm. How many times have I read (often on here) that performances count for nothing if you don't get results. It's the final score/league position that counts. 

I'm being devils advocate, to a point; probably like you some of the best times I can remember watching City have been in the lower leagues, under Terry Cooper particularly springs to mind.

But success is very much judged by league position now, and Im quite sure that if we were currently on our way to a play off final then LJ would still be in charge, and we'd be a pretty happy bunch on here - despite the quality of the football this season.

[Dastardly and Muttley]

3 minutes ago, Port Said Red said:

 

Monkeh, beat me to it, we may have identified several candidates who have moved on to bigger and better things or have contracts that make it difficult for us. I guess the question then would be, "why don't we keep updating the list?", but if you were the Manager and it got back to you that they are interviewing people for your job, "just in case", it hardly sets a good working environment.

I'd say it's MA's job to have a plan in this situation. It could just be a "black book" of coaches that he's keeping an eye on; names that he would look to explore if an opportunity arose. However, he must have an idea of 5/6 names that he'd be keen on should something happen. Several of them may not be available/interested, however he's at least got a starting point to which he can add any other applicants.

From my limited knowledge, I'd be keeping an eye on managers who are doing a good job and may be tempted away, like Bowyer at Charlton, Struber at Barnsley, Robins at Coventry, Ainsworth at Wycombe, Cook at Wigan or Lowe at Plymouth; managers who are beginning to get fed up like Neil at Preston; managers on the hotseat like Smith at Villa, Moyes at West Ham or Howe at Bournemouth; assistants who are looking to take a management role like Terry and unemployed managers like Hughton and Pearson. I'd also have a list of overseas coaches doing well that could be interested, like Slot, but I don't know enough about overseas football to suggest anyone else.

That gives a list of 13 names to begin consideration of. From there, you could look at who fits the structure and has experience of success whilst working in a similar structure to ours. That may knock a couple of names off the list, Cook, Hughton & Pearson for example would likely want full control, same with Moyes. Leaves 8 names for more serious consideration: Bowyer, Struber, Robins, Ainsworth, Lowe, Neil, Smith and Howe. Smith's staying put. Ainsworth seems to be staying at Wycombe. Neil has a huge buy-out apparently. Robins is likely to want a crack at Coventry in the Champ.  That would leave Bowyer, Struber, Terry and Lowe. Personally, I'd look to make contact with Howe, Neil, Hughton, Bowyer, Struber, Terry & Lowe. Check out their demands and interest level, then interview from there. Doesn't look like we've had any interest in Bowyer or Struber, sadly. I'd make an educated guess that our final list of candidates includes Neil, Hughton, Terry & Lowe, for the reasons outline above, as well as one/two overseas coaches and any surprise applications.

[The Gasbuster]

34 minutes ago, Red Army 75 said:

Some decent discussion and posts this morning. What a difference from yesterday evening 

The absence of one certain poster being a major factor.

(cue his first post of the day !)

[Port Said Red]

3 minutes ago, Red Exile said:

I guess lots of us of a certain age on here have managed people and teams. The most interesting job I had involved managing a bunch of very talented creative people, most of whom were passing through. They were usually on their way up. It was my job to spot talent, develop it and when people left for better things recruit successors on the basis that if you did a good job you'd go places. Some people hung around, but not that many. My role was to be constantly on the look out for new people, or to employ people who did that for me...talent spotting. I think that's what I'd be expecting to be happening with the City managers job, and for it to be a dynamic process.

Now, that often leaves you introducing people who you reckon will be great but no one else on the team has heard of and might be suspicious of. In order to make that process work you, as the boss, have to build trust in your judgement. I think that's the bit Mark Ashton has missed out here. Supporters - some supporters - don't trust him, or, when it comes to hiring managers, the owners.

I doubt our record on managerial appointments is any worse than many clubs, look at how Manchester Utd have scrabbled around trying to replace Sir Alex in recent years as an example. Although a few on here are trying to rewrite the whole of Johnson's career, I would think his record of where we finished and so on would stack up against all but the very best we have had post war. His Father was also a success for a reasonable period, Danny Wilson was consistent although at a lower level and although he seems to be a bit "left field" in terms of the kind of Manager we would appoint, SC was incredibly successful in the short term. Of course there are the failures, but I would argue that in many ways they looked a good fit on paper. SOD would have been at the top of many peoples lists when he was brought in and DMC was asked to do far too much outside of the first team at the time. I don't think we have the truly appalling record of Managerial signings that some would have us believe.